Apparatus for filling capsules.



No. 817,622. PATENTED APR. 10, 1906. G. G. BOYKIN.

APPARATUS FOR FILLING CAPSULES.

APPLIOATIOH FILED JUNE 8, 1905.

2 BHBETB-8HEET 1.

No. 817,622. PATENTED APR. 10, 1906. G. G. BOYKIN.

APPARATUS FOR FILLING GAPSULES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE a, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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CHRISTOPHER C. BOYKIN, OF NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN NOVELTY COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF NORFOLK, VIRGINIA, A CORPORATION OF VIRGINIA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 10, 1906.

Application filed June 8,1905. Serial No. 264,352.

To an whom-it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHRISTOPHER C. Bor- KIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Norfolk, in the county of Norfolk and State of Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Filling Capsules, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an apparatus for filling capsules, the object of the invention being to provide a simple and effective apparatus of this character which is easy of operation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention, with the foregoing, will be set forth at length in the following description, while the novelty of said invention will be embraced in the claims succeeding said description.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification I illustrate a simple form of embodiment of the invention, which to enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same I will describe in detail in the said description.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation, Fig. 2 a longitudinal sectional elevation, Fig. 3 a sectional rear elevation, and- Fig. 4 a top plan view, of a capsule-filling apparatus including my invention. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a capsule-depressing de vice. Figs. 6 and '7 are similar views of a par tition and capsule-support, respectively.

Like characters refer to like parts throughout the different figures of the drawings.

The apparatus involves in its make-up a frame, denoted in a general way by 2, and which is shown as being of box-like form, and the top of which supports a plate 3. box-like frame can be mounted upon a prescription-counter or other place. The upper 5 side of the plate 3 provides a surface uponf which granular materials may be triturated and miXed prior to being introduced into the bodies of capsules. glass or porcelain, and as it is removable it can, whenever desired, be lifted off the frame 2 for cleaning. The plate is removably held to the upper side of the frame in some suit-- able wayfor example, by means of several clips, each designated by 4, detachably fastened to the frame, and the tops or working portions of which overhang the marginal portion of the said plate.

To the rear of the plate 3 are the strips 5.

The

The plate may be of These strips really constitute a part of the top of the box-like frame, their upper surface being in the plane of the upper surface'of the plate, from which it will be understood that the plate is supported by a part of the top of the box-like frame located below the strips-5. The pulverulent material is moved from the plate 3 onto the forward strip 5 and then onto a strip 6 and finally into the upper open ends of capsule-bodies fitted in perforations in said strip 6. The strip 6 closely fits within the space between the two stationary strips 5. It will therefore be understood that the strip 6 is removable, it being in the present instance slidable into such space from one end thereof. T o prevent upward displacement of the sliding or removable strip, its side edges are beveled upward to engage the corresponding walls of the space or opening between the two stationary strips 5.

- I/Vhen the strip 6 reaches its proper position, one end thereof will abut against a stop, as 7, which in the present instance fits in a notch in the adjacent end of the said strip 6. The stop is represented as a pin carried on the upper edge of the body of the box-like frame 2 in the space or opening between the strips 5. This stop defines the position of the strip 6. When it is desired to remove the strip, all that is necessary to do is to slide it from the opening it occupies, following which a strip of a difierent character can be put in the place of the one removed. By different character I mean a strip the perforations in which are of a different diameter than those in the original strip. The strip 6. is represented as having a row of perforations each to accommodate the body of a capsule. All the perforations are represented as being of the same diameter. When it becomes necessary to fill capsules of a different diameter, the strip 6 will be removed and another of the requisite kind will be put in its stead. I therefore have provision for filling capsules that vary in diameter, and this result I can secure in an expeditious, simple, and feasible manner.

The bottoms of the bodies of the capsules when being filled rest upon yieldable supports, each designated in a general way by 8. The bodies of the supports I will denote by 9. These bodies 9 are fitted for vertical motion in the space bounded by the side walls 10 and the end blocks 11, the said side walls and blocks being suitably fastened together and the blocks being attached in some convenient way to the base-board 12. This base-board has fastened to its upper side the outer ends of springs 13, shown as being of leaf form, and the free portions of which bear against the bodies 9, it being evident that the springs correspond in number with the bodies and naturally with the supports 8. The springs 13 yieldingly sustain the capsule-supports 8 in their elevated positions, with the working portions of said supports in position to receive the bottoms of the bodies of capsules thrust through the perforations in the removable strip 6. As the supports are yieldable or depressible, they can be thrust down to bring the upper edges of the bodies of the capsules flush with or in the plane of the upper surface of the slidable strip 6, which is flush with the upper surfaces of the strips 5 and plate 3.

I have described a means whereby I can readily provide for the accommodation of capsules of different diameters. By virtue of the yieldable supports 8 I make provision for the filling of capsules of different lengths or depths.

Upon each body, which may be of wood, I fasten the member which directly carries or sustains the capsule-body, the said member being denoted by 14 and being shown as of substantially L-shaped form, the horizontal portion of the L-shaped-member being directly attached to said body near the upper edge thereof, while the other portion of the L is vertical and is located to the rear of the body 9. The vertical portions of the members 14 are bent laterally to present heads 15, upon which the bases of the bodies of the capsules rest while being filled. These heads, as will be seen, are located to the rear of the bodies of the capsulesupports, and any powder or other material that may fall on them can be easily separated therefrom and will pass through the open under side of the box like frame 2 onto the prescription-counter on i which said frame rests.

To provide for the requisite downward movement of the capsule-supports 8, what might be considered as the rear side wall 10 is slitted in its upper edge, the horizontal portions of the L-shaped members 14 entering the slits as the supports are thrust clownward.

The capsule-supports 8 in the present instance fit side by side and somewhat closely in the space which receives them, andv between the terminal supports and blocks 11 spacing-plates, as 16, are disposed. 1 provide for the locking down of these yieldable supports in fixed positions, with the upper edges of capsule bodies thereon flush with the upper surface of the perforated strip 6 and the upper surface of the plate 3. In

other words, the said. supports when locked cannot be moved accidentally either upwardly or downwardly.

I will now set forth a simple locking means for securing the result in question.

One of the blocks 1.1, constituting a part of what might be considered an auxiliary frame for directly sustaining the capsule-body supports 8, is shown as equipped with a nut 17 to receive the jam-screw 18, said screw extending outward through an opening or perforation in one side of the main frame 2 and having an actuating device, which may be a hand-crank 19. It will be understood, 'of course, that the frame, made up of the walls 10, blocks 11 and base-board 12, is incased or housed within the frame 2, it being suitably removably held therein, for example, in a slidable manner, for which purpose the side walls of the frame 2 have vertical guide-strips between which the ends of the auxiliary frame can be slid. By running the screw 18 in, its inner end will bind against the adjacent plate 16, and the latter in turn will be caused to bind against the adjacent support 8, so that if the said screw is run in far enough the several supports will be jammed together, by reason of which, if they are down, they will be positively held in such relation. A capsule-body having been inserted into a perforation in the strip 6 will rest upon the head 15. To bring the upper edge of said body flush with the upper surface of the strip 6, it will be necessary to press said body down ward, the result being that the su port 8, of which said head forms a part, wi 1 becomespondingly operated. When the desired relation of the capsule-body is secured, the screw 18 will be turned so as to bind or look the supports together and prevent the one that is in use from moving from its locked position. In other words, the support upon which a capsule-body rests cannot be moved accidentally upward, nor can it be moved downward by pressure on the powder therein of a plunger used to pack such powder, as will hereinafter appear. When the capsule-body is filled, the screw will be manipulated to liberate all the supports, so that the one which sustains a capsule when being filled can rise to cause the ascent of the filled capsule to permit the placing of the cap upon the same.

I provide means for packing the powdered material in the capsule-bodies, as will now appear.

Upon a ledge extending rearward from the body of the frame 2 and upon suitable bearings rising from the said ledge are pivoted. the side arms or branches of a yoke-like member 20. Against the arms or side branches of the yoke-like member leafsprings, as 2, are adapted to act, so as to Lil hold the arms, and necessarily the transverse portion of the yoke member, normally up and to return them to such position after they have been moved downward and released. Depending from the transverse portion of the yoke 20 are plungers, each designated by 22, and which correspond in number to the perforations in the strip 6. The said plungers are tapered toward their free ends to secure their proper entrance into the bodies of the capsules and the requisite compression of the material in the said bodies. The yoke 20 might be considered as a plunger-carrier yieldably mounted, the spring or springs acting against the plunger-carrier serving to hold same normally in an ineffective position and serving to return the carrier to said position when it is relieved of pressure, which in the present oppositely-disposed powder-receiving case, is hand-pressure.

I provide for the division of the triturated mass upon the plate 3 into charges, assuming there are several capsules to be filled, one charge being delivered into each capsule, and I will now describe the means shown for this purpose.

Mounted for back-and-forth sliding movement on the upper side of the plate 3 and arranged also to traverse the upper surfaces of the strips 5 and 6 is a member 23, which may be in the form of a wooden or metal bar having an elongated slot in which the powdered mixtures are received and separated into charges. The length of this slot is substantially the same as that between the extreme perforations in the strip 6. To prevent endwise movement of the member 23, it may be provided at its opposite ends with depending flanges, each designated by 24, adapted to engage the side faces of the body of the boxlike frame 2 as said member 23 is moved back and forth. Upon the opposite side walls of the slot in the dividing member 23 are proj ections 25, one projection on one wall being directly opposite another projectionon the opposite wall. projections, or the wall of the slot fromwhich they extend, are circular to present pockets, the number of the pockets being equal to the number of perforations in the strip 6.

In use several ingredients in powdered form will be triturated and mixed upon the upper surface of the plate 3, and the mixture will then be heaped in an extended line and graduated in length by the scale 27 on the strip 5, according to the number of capsules to be filled. The member 23 is then lifted and placed over the extended line of powder, with the latter in the slot in said member 23. The latter is then moved back and forth to effect the distribution of the powder into the pockets between the projections 25, the said pockets dividing the mass into equal charges. When the mass is divided to the requisite ex- The spaces between these tent, the member 23 being slowly moved toward the capsule-bodies resting in the perfo rations in the strip 6, said member will have reached a position rearward of that it originally occupied. On the continued movement, therefore, the charges divided by the back-and-forth motion of the member 23 will be pushed into the upper open sides of the capsule-bodies resting upon the locked-down supports 8. While the powder is being deposited in the open capsules by the member 23, the yoke 20 will be manipulated to facilitate the packing in of the powder until all of the latter is deposited in the capsules. When this is done, the supports will be freed from their lowered positions by operating the screw 18 from hand-crank 19, so that said filled capsule-bodies can be raised in an automatic manner with their upper edges above the upper surface of the perforated strip 6. When the filled capsule-bodies have been raised, the screw will be operated by the crank to lock the several supports 8, so that the caps canbe applied to the filled capsules without possibility ofdepressing the latter.

In some cases it may not be desired to fill a large number of capsule-bodies, in which case I may cut out of use a part of the dividing member 23, for example, by means of the removable partition 26, which may be in the form of a plate having slots to receive the side bars of the member 23 at the widest portion thereof in order to accurately separate the said dividing member into two different portions. The outer walls of these slots fit removably notches in the outer sides of the side bars of the member 23. It will be understood that the pocketed portion of the dividing member is coincident with the perforations in the strip 6, so that the member 23 can accurately deliver powdered substances into the capsule-bodies fitted in the perforations of said strip. In the case of oily powders I find that I can operate upon the same with advantage without employing the member 23. To secure, however, the accurate division of such powders into doses or charges, I provide upon the forward strip 5 a gage, as 27, the spaces between the divisions of which define the amount of the charges. In the case of such oily powders they can be triturated upon the plate 3 adjacent the gage 27, afterward divided, and moved by the ordinary knife toward and into the capsulebodies. After the capsule-bodies are fitted in the perforations in the strip 6 and rest on the heads 15 of the capsule-supports they may be pressed down to bring their upper edges into a common place and into coincidence with the upper surface of the strip 6 by the presser device 30. (Shown in Fig. 5.)

Upon the sides of the box-like frame are pins, as 31, fitting slots 33 in the depending flanges 24 of the dividing member 23. The

pins abut against the end walls of said slot, and thereby limit the lateral motion of said dividing member.

Having thus described the invention, What I claim is 1. The combination of capsule -holding means involving a yieldable support, and means for locking said yieldable support in a depressed position.

2. The combination of a perforated member, through a perforation in which a capsulebody may be passed, a yieldable support below the perforated member, and means for locking said yieldable support in a depressed position.

3. The combination of a plate for the mixture of powders, two strips separated from each other, the upper surfaces of which are in a common plane and in the plane of the upper surface of said plate, a perforated strip between the other strips, the upper surface of which is in the plane of the other strips, and depressible means located below the said perforated strip for supporting capsules.

1. The combination of a plate for the mixture of powders, two strips separated from each other, the upper surfaces of which are in a common plane and in the plane of the upper surface of said plate, a perforated strip between the other strips, the upper surface of which is in the plane of the other strips, depressible means located below the said perforated strip for supporting capsules, and means for locking said depressiblc means in a de pressed position.

5. The combination of capsule-holding means involving a yieldably-mounted capsule-support, means for locking the said support in a depressed relation, and a plunger suitably mounted and arranged to enter a capsule while on said support.

6. The combination of a member having a series of perforations, capsule-body supports corresponding in number with said perforations and yieldably mounted, and means acting against one of the supports to jam them against each other to lock them in a depressed condition with the upper surfaces of the bodies of the capsules resting on the supports flush with the upper surface of said perforated member.

7. The combination of a member having a series of perforations, capsule-body supports corresponding in number with said perforations and yieldably mounted, and means acting against one of the supports to jam them against each other to lock them in a depressed condition with the upper surfaces of the bodies of the capsules resting on the supports flush with the upper surface of said perforated member, and a yieldably-mounted carrier having plungers to enterthe capsulebodies on said supports.

8. The combination of a plurality of yieldably-mounted capsulesupports, and means for jamming said supports against eachother to hold them in a locked-down relation.

9. The combination of a member having a series of perforations to receive capsulebodies, yieldable supports located below the perforated member and corresponding in number with the perforations, a fixed nut, a screw working through the said nut and adapted to engage the bodies of said supports to jam them together andthereby lock them in depressed relations.

10. The combination of means for supporting capsules and means for dividing a mass of material into predetermined charges and delivering the charges into appropriate capsules, said means consisting of a movably mounted member having oppositely disposed powder-receiving pockets.

11. The combination of means for supporting capsules, means for dividing a mass of material into predetermined charges and delivering the charges into appropriate capsules, said means consisting. of a movablymounted member having oppositely-disposed powder-receiving pockets, and provided with depending flanges at its opposite ends, and means to engage the flanges to limit the movement of said member.

12. The combination of a plate, a perforated member associated with said plate, the perforations of which are adapted to receive capsule bodies, means for supporting the capsule-bodies with their upper edges flush with said perforated member and plate, and a slotted member arranged to travel back and forth on said plate and having in-its slot opposing. projections, thereby forming pockets in said slot, the said member being adapted to subdivide powder into charges and to pass the charges into the capsule-bodies.

13. The combination of a plate, a perforated member associated with said plate, the perforations of which are adapted to receive capsule-bodies, means for supporting the capsule-bodies with their upper edges flush with said perforated member and plate, and a slotted member arranged to travel back and forth on said. plate and having in its slot opposing projections, thereby forming pockets in said slot, the said member being adapted to subdivide powder into charges and to pass the charges into the capsule-bodies, and means for separating the charge forming member into two different portions.

14. The combination of a perforated member, the perforations of which are adaptedto receive capsule-bodies, means for delivering charges of powder into the capsule-bodies, depressible supports for the capsule-bodies, means for locking the depressible supports in depressed positions with the upper edges of the capsules flush with the upper surface of said perforated member, and plungers corresponding in number with the perforations, to enter the upper sides of the capsule-bodies.

ITS

15. The combination of a perforated plate, the perforations of Which are adapted to receive capsules, yieldable supports located below the perforated plate, means for locking the yieldable supports in a depressed position with the upper edges of the capsules flush with said plate, and means for dividing a mass of material into predetermined charges and for delivering the same into appropriate capsules.

16. The combination of means for supporting capsules, means for dividing a mass of material into predetermined charges and delivering the charges into appropriate capsules, said means consisting of a movablymounted member having oppositely disposed powder receiving pockets and pro vided with pendent notched flanges, and pins to enter the notches of the flanges to limit the back-andiorth motion of the member.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of tWo subscribing Witnesses.

CHRISTOPHER C. BOYKIN.

WVitnesses WM.- WADSWORTH DEY, J No. UPTON. 

